This is a Guest Post by Nisha Sandhu from MerchantAccountForum.com. The website is about providing help and support in setting up a merchant account providing free, impartial advice for small online businesses and individuals who want to set up a business or money making website.


Doing business solely online is much more common now than it was five years ago. Online businesses lack the overhead of brick-and-mortar establishments and can be run from the comfort of your home. But running a business still requires an investment of time, energy and resources if you want to be successful.


Know Your Market

When looking to set up a business online, you should be well prepared with what you’re going to sell. Being as familiar with your product as possible will help you assess potential markets and target future advertising accordingly. The best way to do this is to look into similar websites to see what they offer and to try and work out what markets they would be targeting, from this dvelop a clear goal based on these markets and stay focused on that goal as you build your business.

Website Setup

A memorable domain name is helpful when setting up your business website, but it’s only part of your overall web presence. Your site should be easy on the eyes and even easier to navigate. The goal of a business site is to get customers to the products they want as quickly as possible. Once they’re ready to make a purchase, checkout should be simple and secure. Make sure to seek out hosting companies that offer secure shopping carts, or look into using something like PayPal for quick, straightforward transactions.

Be Easy to Find

Most people find what they want via search engine results, meaning that you can have the best website in the world and still not be seen by potential customers. The trick to being visible in today’s Internet market is smart SEO practices. The content of your site must be high quality and dynamic, and incorporate product-related keywords in a natural way. It’s no longer practical to stuff as many keywords as possible into site text; in fact, doing so can cost your business in search engine ranking and cause you to lose customers.

Social Media: Yes or No?

There’s a lot of hype about Facebook and Twitter, but whether or not these services will help you make money largely depends on your business. When just starting out, it may be smarter to skip the social media and concentrate on the business itself. Social media has its place, but if you’re spending all your time on status updates instead of business operations, it’s not going to help.

Be Aware of Legalities

Lastly, familiarize yourself with any legalities involved in running your business. If there is anything you don’t understand about taxes, e-commerce laws, or the legal side of business setup, get in contact with someone who does. This will help ensure that everything operates smoothly and allow you to concentrate on selling your product.

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